Conner’s 26 points leads Lady Marshals over Lady Mustangs

Cayson Conner on her way to the goal in the second half against McCracken County, led the Lady Marshals with 26 points in their 68-50 win and was 7/8 from the free throw line.

Friday’s second game against McCracken County was a much different result for the Lady Marshals than their first meeting on Dec. 13 when the Lady Mustangs handed them a 56-42 loss. A game they trailed in from the start, with a break down in defense that allowed McCracken County freshman Destiny Thomas to score 28 points.

In Friday’s 68-50 win in Paducah, the Lady Marshals took control from the opening tip and this time around, never trailed and held Thomas to 16 points. Cayson Conner led a trio of players in double figures with 26 points, Halle Langhi and Layne Pea each had 11 points.

“We never quit tonight…we kept coming back”, Interim Head Coach Aaron Beth said, “They made a run, then we would make a run.”

Those runs not coming until the second quarter after the Lady Marshals led 16-6 at the end of the first, controlling from the start with a 6-0 lead on baskets by Langhi, Presley Jezik and Conner before McCracken County got on the board with a basket by eighth grader Claire Johnson. The Lady Marshals amassed a 14-2 lead before McCracken County scored their second field goal by Bettany Russell with 14 seconds left in the quarter.

Halle Langhi guarding McCracken County’s Destiny Thomas, was part of a much better defensive effort by the Lady Marshals in Friday’s win, compared to the Dec. 13 loss to the Lady Mustangs.

Conner and Pea gave the Lady Marshals a 20-6 lead to start the second quarter that led to a time-out called by an upset Lady Mustangs Head Coach Scott Sivills. Out of the time-out, Ashton Rudy hit a three, the first of 14 points for the Lady Mustangs in the quarter and they pulled to within two points at 22-20 on Rudy’s second 3-pointer. A basket by Langhi and free throws from Jezik finished out the half to give the Lady Marshals a 26-20 lead.

Jezik scored to open the second half on a nice assist from Pea to lead by eight. Caroline Sivills cut it back to six, followed by four straight baskets by Conner to put them back up by 14 points. The lead was cut to seven at 38-31 with both teams exchanging buckets before an 8-0 run by the Lady Marshals put them up 15 points, the quarter ending on a three by Rudy for McCracken County.

Thomas scored, drawing a foul to cut the lead back to single digits for McCracken County to open the fourth quarter. A basket by Pea and four free throws by Conner who was 8/7 on the night from the line, put the Lady Marshals up by 13 with 4:08 remaining. Pea, Conner and Mia Teague kept the streak from the foul line going to hold a 14 point lead with two minutes to go, Jezik and Pea dropping in the final four points for the 18 point win.

Very pleased with the team’s effort overall, Beth said, “We didn’t rebound the basketball. My number one issue with tonight is giving up too many offensive rebounds. If we box out and don’t give them second and third shots, it’s not as close as it was.”

“We had a lot of different people step up tonight”, Beth said. Happy with the job his subs did coming into the game in a very hostile environment that will only make them better come tournament time.

Marshall County      16   26   49   68
McCracken County   6   20   37   50
Scoring:
Marshall County: Cayson Conner 26, Halle Langhi 11, Layne Pea 11, Presley Jezik 8, Jada Driver 5, Mia Teague 5, Georgia Hall 2
McCracken County: Destiny Thomas 16, Ashton Rudy 12, Caroline Sivills 9, Claire Johnson 7, Marlee Morehead 4, Bethany Russell 2

Jada Driver shoots against pressure from McCracken County’s Destiny Thomas. Driver had five points for the Lady Marshals.